


A Little Privacy

by Ilthit



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: M/M, Marriage Proposal, Schmoop, Wordcount: 500-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 05:42:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20148589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilthit/pseuds/Ilthit
Summary: A rowboat date. WHY NOT.





	A Little Privacy

**Author's Note:**

> For stillsyns@tumblr and the prompt "Old-fashioned rowboat date".

“I can row too, you know.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know, but--”

“I’m rowing, okay?”

Reynir dropped the subject. Onni was barely speaking today, and he’d rather whatever few words they exchanged weren’t wasted on arguing. He knew that mood. Onni was working through something in his head, and it would come out when it came out, or be resolved without ever getting vocalized.

Reynir trailed his fingers in the water instead. There was no wind today and the sun was pale and bright, and the lake was clear as glass. Well, slightly smoky glass, anyway. They’d see any seal-beast or water-troll coming a mile away, even if there weren’t protective runes etched along the sides of their boat.

“This is nice,” said Reynir, leaning back on his end of the boat with a smile. The late summer had been cooling fast, but the sun would get one more opportunity to splatter his nose with freckles, if it could find any space left over. The sound of the water was soothing, not like the bubbling of the river near his hometown in Iceland, or like the rushing of waves in the ocean. And out here it was just the two of them, no neighbors or distant relatives with questions or problems to solve.

It had been a nice summer. He liked it here in Finland. They even had sun in the winter, whole hours of it. And Onni was here.

He’d learned so much over the past two years—about the local gods and lore, about protective magic, about centering oneself and throwing one’s senses out even when awake. He had more control over his visions now, and the messages clearer, if no less terrifying. He was sure he would have learned it all eventually by himself, but Onni had helped—patiently, night after night, in their dreams and out if them, and Reynir never got tired of learning.

It seemed incredible he’d ever been so standoffish… well, with Reynir, anyway. He was still a grump with practically anyone else.

Things had really changed since Saimaa.

So it hadn’t been that terrible, not travelling for a little while. Finland wasn’t boring. And the ships left Pori often enough for Reynir to keep in touch with his scattered family.

The boat tugged and stood still as Onni braced the paddles against the water, stopping them in the middle of the lake. Reynir blinked. “Are we going to fish? But you hate fishing. And I didn’t bring a line or bait.”

A muscle in Onni’s jaw clenched and he huffed at Reynir—again, he knew that look. Whatever had been on his mind, it had been worked through. He sat up straight. “What—what is it?”

“WILL YOU MARRY ME?” Onni yelled. A trio of crows took flight on the far shore; the echo returned back to them from across the water.

Reynir sat stunned. Onni folded his arms across his chest and grunted, “Well?”

“But… I asked you last year, and you said no.”

“Not for a visa this time.” Onni’s mask slipped. “For real. For… ngh… for love. I… you know I… ”

The grin bubbled up from deep inside, and came out with a squeak. Reynir threw himself across the boat, rocking it dangerously, but landing in Onni’s arms.

“Careful!”

“Yes!”

“Yes?”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

The boat rocked, but settled again.


End file.
